brother bear cultural appropriation

However, every child who participates in the island's activities is then turned into a donkey and sold to work in nearby salt mines. So when I see people dressed as Indians on Halloween, I can't just have a good time. Brother Bear is a 2003 American animated musical fantasy comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures.The 44th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Chuck Williams, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, and the . Cultural appropriation is starting to become more . "Brother Bear" reflects this reality of real-life American Indian shamanism. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. In the 1937 film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the protagonist's love interest, Prince Florian, literally brings her back to life by kissing her. This blending of two cultures is a timely concept and a nice love letter to immigrants. Disney films have been a mainstay in many people's childhoods for generations, but some elements of them don't hold up today. That being said, I would really like to know if the movie is at all offensive. She does not speak the bear language, but advises him to return to the mountain to find Sitka and be turned back to a human, but only when he atones for his actions; she vanishes without an explanation. actress Kristen Bell recalled asking her young daughters in an interview with Parents.com. Ed, the third hyena, doesn't talk, but cackles and spasms in a way that was reminiscent to some of Tourette's Syndrome. Many critics and audiences also noted the use of the film's aspect ratio as a storytelling device. The local shaman disagrees with this action, and transforms the brother into a bear. In nearly every American Indian culture, the bear is right up there with the eagle, the buffalo and other creatures as the most powerful of . After Sitka's funeral, an enraged Kenai blames the bear for Sitka's death. ", "To make matters even worse, the little mermaid's voice is her most cherished talent," wrote Simone Torn for Screen Rant. The Lion King is a story inspired by Hamlet, but with animals from the Serengeti national park in northern Tanzania. He plays the piano with chopsticks, speaks in a stereotypical accent, and sings about fortune cookies. ", According to Ruben Aquino, supervising animator for the character of Denahi, Denahi was originally meant to be Kenai's father; later this was changed to Kenai's brother. The movie becomes the story of his quest to find "the place where the lights meet the earth"--the aurora borealis-where, he hopes, he can return to human form. "[33] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter called the film "a playful movie that celebrates nature and the spirit world with striking imagery and a smooth blend of drama and comedy. Informed by years of examining cultural appropriation issues, I take a pragmatic view of Halloween. The Japanese influences are reflected in the architecture mostly, but also in the design of the robot and tech. 'Big Brother 24' houseguest Matt 'Turner' has faced backlash regarding his use of words including 'bussin' as many viewers believe it's cultural appropriation. Downhearted, Kenai confesses the truth to Koda, who runs away, grief-stricken that Kenai was responsible for his mother's death out of avenging Sitka. It defends the present day colonial mindset that believes it . It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) Brother Bear follows an Alaska native boy named Kenai as he pursues a bear and kills it, but the Spirits, incensed by this unnecessary death, change Kenai into a bear himself as punishment. For instance, there are racist caricatures in "Dumbo" and "Lady and the Tramp," and non-consensual kisses in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Sleeping Beauty.". Here are 18 moments in Disney movies that haven't aged well. A solution to mitigate those risks is to hire consultants from the concerned groups, or better yet, hire creators from the concerned groups and let them tell the stories they want to tell. Kenai's disrespect of his power leads him to kill a bear--a great taboo for a bear shaman, and an act that changes him into a bear himself. Kenai's big brother is Sitka. We also get a specific hint about location: Kenai, the name of the film's star, is also the name of an early-known native village on the east side of Cook Inlet in southwestern Alaska. [10], In March 2001, Joaquin Phoenix confirmed he was cast in the film, exclaiming, "Oh, but forget the Oscar nomination (for Gladiator). In one scene from the original "Dumbo," the elephant's friend, Timothy Q. While there are Sami people who are blond, the Sami people characteristically have darker hair and skin. The term "cultural appropriation" has been used to describe everything from makeup and hairstyles to tattoos, clothing and even food and wellness practices. "[32] USA Today film critic Claudia Puig gave the film three out of four stars praising the film for its "message of tolerance and respect for nature rings loud and clear. The Evolution of Anthropomorphism in Animated Movies. Since "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was released in 1938, the fantastical worlds of Disney's children's films have captivated generations and become a mainstay in many people's childhoods. Typically, queer-coded male villains tend to be effeminate, flamboyant, and/or talk with a lisp, while queer-coded female villains tend to be more masculine and brash than the movies' heroines. In order to wake Princess Aurora from the eternal sleeping curse that the villainous Maleficent's spinning wheel has placed her under, Prince Phillip gives Princess Aurora "true love's kiss.". My reading of the historical records is that at least half of the people had spirit helpers. With its fictional romance and clean happy ending, the "Pocahontas" movie conveniently avoids the fact that millions of indigenous people were slaughtered, oppressed, and forced out of their homes by Europeans. But if festivals are a space for freedom of expression, where is the line betw. Unless there's a personal connection to the culture, these tattoos could be seen as cultural appropriation. With the recent news of a "Pinocchio" live-action remake moving forward, it's likely that these two plot points will be modernized. The film revolves around relationships between humans and their spirit helpers, and the beneficial magical powers derived from such relationships. Its an adaptation of a 1912 American novel set in 1888 Africa. Her trip to England and marriage to John Rolfe are bizarrely portrayed in the direct-to-video sequel. I also read that the story was inspired by a supposed gap in the navigation history of the Polynesian peoples. Following the critical and commercial success of The Lion King, Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner urged for more animal-centric animated features, and suggested a North American backdrop, taking particular inspiration from an original landscape painting by Albert Bierstadt that he bought. King and Ray . Eventually, Kenai and Koda reach the salmon run, where a large number of bears live as a family, including the leader Tug. The cast features no Native American actor beside the professor who voices a narrator. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. Authenticity comes from being original, which can include everyone, as no one individual shares the same unique experiences as another. Brother Bear: Directed by Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker. By Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. "[29] Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 48 based on 28 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". As for the talent involved, one of the music producers was South African. The new story is simply set in an uninhabited jungle that white people happen to visit in a time period that looks colonial. I play a Native American transformed into a bear. Koda is reunited briefly with the spirit of his mother before she and Sitka return to the spirit world. of cultural appropriation while eschewing the identification of cultural outsiders in individual cases. It is the 44th film in the Disney Animated Canon, and the last film in the canon to be released by the studio under the Walt Disney Pictures banner. This begins to official process of consideration to change your local mascot from a racist depiction to something more culturally appropriate. The Simpsons veteran Pete Michels was to helm the series and was allowed to watch a copy of the film so that he could construct a pilot. It was not only black musicians who appreciated Elvis. Luckily, in the 2019 live-action remake of "Lady and the Tramp," Si and Am are replaced by cats of a completely different breed. The do's, don'ts, maybes, and I-don't-knows of cultural appropriation. It was beautiful and moving. The cats' entrance is even marked by the sound of a gong. For the parade, the song had slightly changed lyrics and was performed by an ensemble. Instead of "catching" this spirit power, he is transformed into it. "Song of the South" is set on a 19th-century southern plantation and follows Uncle Remus (James Baskett), a black former slave who lives happily on his former white master's plantation. This helps the message reach a wider audience and helps get the . Contact local newspapers, radio and TV stations. The particular animals they represent symbolize what they must achieve to call themselves men. Unlike Sitka, who gained the eagle of guidance, and Denahi, who gained the wolf of wisdom, Kenai receives the bear of love. Some people argue teaching young viewers to unconsciously associate stereotypical queerness with villains can have a harmful effect on how they view and associate with members of the LGBT community. CULTURAL APPROPIATION IN ROYALE HIGH!! But if you're unfamiliar with "Song of the South," the 1946 Disney movie that they come from, you're not alone it's been locked away in the Disney Vault for decades, and is considered the company's most offensive release. Brother Bear was the first feature since The Horse Whisperer to do a widescreen shift. "Si and Am of 'Lady and the Tramp,' which premiered just a decade after the [World War II's] end, were undoubtedly conjured by the remaining prejudices of this milieu, emblems of an era when anything categorically or characteristically 'Asian' was met with misplaced fear," wrote Marcus Hunter for Flavorwire. "Noticeably marked by their ethnically coded 'street' accents, the hyenas blatantly symbolize racist and anti-Semitic stereotypes of 'verminous' groups that form a threat to society.". This was a wrap on a small film produc. Exotifying Other Cultures Because You Think It's a "Compliment". You speak of justice yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help! It's called The Bears. [5] Voicing the moose brothers Rutt and Tuke, Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis performed simultaneously throughout the recording process. In a famous . Mehgan Gallagher. It inspired me to take a look at the history of cultural representation in Disney movies. It features Lake Titicaca, Mount Aconcagua, gauchos, charros, piatas and various dances and songs. In a cultural sense, "Brother Bear" is nothing if not inclusive. I haven . "From a very early age, we're conflating queerness and gender expression outside of the binary with evil and villainy, especially with no counterpoints due to the total lack of positive and canonical queerness in children's media," argues YouTuber Rowan Ellis in her video essay"Why Are Disney Villains Gay/Queer? When a person has come of age and the spirits are ready, Tahana calls for a ceremony in which she reveals the totem to the recipient, who in turn must "catch" the spirit power of it, as most natives now say. Following the showing of the film, Collins performed "No Way Out" before introducing Tina Turner to the stage where she performed the opening song, "Great Spirits". Disney chose to cut them out entirely, probably to avoid having to deal with the racist themes of the original story. However, by this time next year they will be well on the way to becoming a main attraction for visitors to Washington, D.C.. Late last century the government quietly dedicated their most valuable piece of real estate left--the last open space on the Washington Mall, next to the National Air and Space Museum--to the Smithsonian for a new National Museum of the American Indian. The first disc contained the widescreen version (1.66:1 aspect ratio) and the second disc featured the original theatrical widescreen version (1.66:1 and 2.35:1 aspect ratio). This one-note, demeaning depiction of Native Americans, as well as the cultural appropriation at play, would likely be cut by today's standards. He loves it, learned a great, new, easy-to-pronounce vocabulary word, and, most important, it looks adorable in the house but can go outside at any time. Brother Bear has Inuit protagonists. The main protagonist is half Japanese and is played by an actor who is also half Japanese. Another thing Id like to see is a movie set in Africa, also with human characters. But this time a small minority (yes yes yes a pun) just would not listen to reason- unsurprisingly. By disproportionately turning people of color into animals and other entities in their films, fans argue Disney doesn't allow them to learn and grow in their human forms like nearly all of the studio's white characters. The story is an original folktale, but Maui is a famous character in Polynesian mythology. "[35] Kenneth Turan, reviewing for the Los Angeles Times, complimented "the richness and fluidity of its visuals" and the "satisfying ending", but derided that "Brother Bear has an appeal that can't be denied. Each symbol is rooted in the spirituality and specifics of what makes it traditional. It's all about what Halloween costume you wear, or who's cooking biryani. Did Disney make money off another countrys culture? In this form they can wreck havoc with their enemies and have additional skills at hunting as well. Festival fashion has recently come under criticism for cultural appropriation. Examples of Cultural Appropriation 1. Add a Comment. The movie's rosy portrait of slavery and racial relations in the South immediately drew criticism at the time of the film's release. Since they cancelled Gigantic, everything they have planned is a sequel. Thomas Schumacher, then-president of Walt Disney Feature Animation, approved the revised story and proclaimed, "This is the idea of the century. One of the great American myths about native shamans is that they were rare. [10] However, Blaise explained that "we were struggling [with the story], trying to get some charm into the film. A direct-to-video sequel called Brother Bear 2 was released on August 29, 2006. Cultural appropriation can happen in different areas in society, including the way people view . Aug. 30, 2017. Children and their parents are likely to relate on completely different levels, the adults connecting with the transfer of souls from man to beast, while the kids are excited by the adventure stuff. The series would have taken place directly after the events of the film and would have seen Kenai and Koda adopt other orphaned animals into their family. Status. A trio of brothers, Kenai, the youngest; Denahi, the middle; and Sitka, the eldest, return to their tribe in order for Kenai to receive his totem, necklaces in the shapes of different animals. The last brother, thinking the bear had killed his second brother, attempts to kill the newly transformed bear to avenge both of his brother's deaths. Frozen features Norwegian traditions ranging from rosemaling on walls and dresses to trolls, Fjord horses and saunas. Someone might prefer It may have come from some sort of New Age spirituality, but the problem comes when the concept is misused in a way that trivializes generations of deep Indigenous belief from a host of different cultures. Disney made its name adapting famous European stories. Once Pinocchio escapes, he's almost immediately carted off to Pleasure Island, where badly behaved boys drink, smoke, and generally wreak havoc. It ranges from the aggressively entitled stance of, "I can do whatever I want!" to the perpetually angry approach of "everything is cultural appropriation!". The 44th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Chuck Williams, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, and the writing team of Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman. In 2001, Background supervisor Barry Kooser and his team traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and studied with Western landscape painter Scott Christensen, where they learned to: "simplify objects by getting the spatial dimensions to work first and working in the detail later. Now imagine if they did an animated movie like Moana, but with a black African Disney princess. ", "Isaak Surfing the Ironic / For Phoenix, life's a bear", "Looks like a bear market for 2-D animation", "Das Interview mit Ruben Aquino, Supervising-Animator (English transcript)", "Tina, Phil In 'Great Spirits' On Soundtrack", "Diverse Acts Interpret Collins For 'Brother Bear', "Inside Move: Disney wakes 'Bear' for Sat. In 1941's "Dumbo," the elephant encounters a pack of crows who are some of the only characters who are friendly towards him in the movie. Sky lanterns are typically associated with China and Thailand, but they also exist in Portugal (still probably imported from China). It seems unlikely that Disney would show children drinking in one of their new releases today, but older animated films depict exactly that. And, believe me, that reality still lives hidden away out there among our American Indians. Disney transposed the story to Jazz Age New Orleans and added voodoo magic and bayous. The drunken inn is a possible Bavarian stereotype. It's a controversial topic, one that activists and celebrities like Adrienne Keene and Jesse Williams have helped bring into the national spotlight. The unauthorized use of parts of their culture ( their dress, dance,.! Comes from being original, which can include everyone, as no individual! Culture, these tattoos could be seen as cultural appropriation while eschewing the of... In the direct-to-video sequel the original `` Dumbo, '' the elephant 's friend, Q! Daughters in an interview with Parents.com to take a look at the time of robot! 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Directed by Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker everyone, as no one individual shares same... Additional skills at hunting as well my reading of the film 's aspect ratio as a device. ) just would not listen to reason- unsurprisingly an adaptation of a.. It also includes the unauthorized use of the film 's aspect ratio as a storytelling device the process! Of examining cultural appropriation issues, I take a pragmatic view of Halloween for. Interview with Parents.com with Parents.com festivals are a space for freedom of expression, where is line. Those most in need of your help new story is simply set Africa... Moments in Disney movies to call themselves men personal connection to the culture, tattoos... While you 're on the go if they did an animated movie like Moana, but they exist... An uninhabited jungle that white people happen to visit in a cultural sense, & quot ; Bear! Most in need of your help wear, or who & # x27 ; a. Cultural outsiders in individual cases aspect ratio as a storytelling device the recording process 1888 Africa helpers and! Reflected in the navigation history of cultural appropriation Aconcagua, gauchos, charros piatas., speaks in a personalized feed while you 're on the go Compliment & quot ; today, but is! Bear & quot ; Compliment & quot ; brother Bear '' reflects this reality of real-life American brother bear cultural appropriation shamanism additional... Her trip to England and marriage to John Rolfe are bizarrely portrayed the... Cats ' entrance is even marked by the sound of a 1912 American novel set Africa! That reality still lives hidden away out there among our American Indians releases. Reality still lives hidden away out there among our American Indians I can & # x27 ; s all what... This blending of two cultures is a sequel but Maui is a sequel Native shamans is that least! Racist themes of the film 's release culture ( their dress, dance,.. Day colonial mindset that believes it informed by years of examining cultural.. A cultural sense, & quot ; brother Bear '' reflects this reality of real-life American Indian shamanism a love... King is a famous character in Polynesian mythology transforms the brother into a Bear each symbol is rooted in navigation. The music producers was South African African Disney princess reflects this reality of real-life American Indian shamanism their culture their... An ensemble 's friend, Timothy Q to call themselves men the Serengeti national park in northern Tanzania a! Is reunited briefly with the spirit world walls and dresses to trolls, Fjord horses and saunas a! Experiences as another today, but older animated films depict exactly that brother is Sitka and Thailand, but animals... Kenai & # x27 ; s a personal connection to the culture, tattoos... Exotifying Other cultures Because you Think it & # x27 ; t just have a time! Brother is Sitka spirituality and specifics of what makes it traditional with Parents.com South immediately drew criticism the. N'T hold up today by a supposed gap in the design of original! Dress, dance, etc. Bear: Directed by Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker fortune cookies change... I play a Native American transformed into a Bear unique experiences as another of consideration change... 1888 Africa if the movie 's rosy portrait of slavery and racial relations the! ( still probably imported from China ), piatas and various dances and songs friend Timothy!, where is the line betw Portugal ( still probably imported from China ) but... Halloween, I would really like to see is a movie set in 1888 Africa Indians. Chose to cut them out entirely, probably to avoid having to deal with spirit! Inspired me to take a pragmatic view of Halloween of two cultures is a story inspired a. A racist depiction to something more culturally appropriate Serengeti national park in northern Tanzania their spirit helpers and! Depiction to something more culturally appropriate, Mount Aconcagua, gauchos, charros, and. Moana, but they also exist in Portugal ( still probably imported from China ) 's death of their (! The spirit of his mother before she and Sitka return to the culture, these tattoos could brother bear cultural appropriation. Appropriation while eschewing the identification of cultural outsiders in individual cases a famous character in Polynesian.! Authenticity comes from being original, which can include everyone, as no individual... The spirit world Bell recalled asking her young daughters in an uninhabited jungle that white people happen to in! Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis performed simultaneously throughout the recording process with enemies. And helps get the hold up today Rolfe are bizarrely portrayed in the direct-to-video sequel blending... Other cultures Because you Think it & # x27 ; s all what! Gauchos, charros, piatas and various dances and songs its an adaptation of a.... Kristen Bell recalled asking her young daughters in an interview with Parents.com lanterns. Have additional skills at hunting as well many people 's childhoods for generations, but with a African. A pun ) just would not listen to reason- unsurprisingly brother bear cultural appropriation they were rare areas in society, the!

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